Miskwabik, Metal of Ritual : Metallurgy in Precontact Eastern North America

__Miskwabik, Metal of Ritual__ examines the thousands of beautiful and intricate ritual works of art―from ceremonial weaponry to delicate copper pendants and ear ornaments―created in eastern North America before the arrival of Europeans. The first comprehensive examination of this 3,000-year-old metallurgical tradition, the book provides unique insight into the motivation of the artisans and the significance of these objects, and highlights the brilliance and sophistication of the early civilizations of the Americas.Comparing the ritual architecture and metallurgy of the original Americans with the ethnological record, Amelia M. Trevelyan begins to unravel the mystery of the significance of the objects as well as their special functions within the societies that created them. The book includes dozens of striking color and black and white photographs. Miskwabik, Metal of Ritual examines the thousands of beautiful and intricate ritual works of art -- from ceremonial weaponry to delicate copper pendants and ear ornaments -- created in eastern North America before the arrival of Europeans. The first comprehensive examination of this 3,000-year-old metallurgical tradition, the book provides unique insight into the motivation of the artisans and the significance of these objects, and highlights the brilliance and sophistication of the early civilizations of the Americas.Comparing the ritual architecture and metallurgy of the original Americans "Miskwabik, Metal of Ritual is the first comprehensive study of this 3,000 year old phenomenon among the ancient peoples of eastern North America. By concentrating on the artifacts themselves, their complex aesthetics and iconography as well as their cultural context and technical sophistication, Miskwabik, Metal of Ritual describes the significance of the copper objects as well as their special function within the societies that created them."--Jacket. The indigenous tribes of eastern North America have a 3000-year-old tradition of working with copper, otherwise known as `Miskwabik'. There is even metallurgical evidence that the people of the Mississippi made their own metal objects from the vast copper resources of the east. Copper was central to five major ritual manifestations in eastern North America, dubbed by scholars: the Old Copper Culture; the Adena, Hopewell, and Copena peoples; and the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex.